Fed-up pupils have named and shamed parents who create a traffic hazard by parking outside their school.

Children stood outside Gateshead's Oakfield Infant and Junior Schools yesterday afternoon to count the number of cars parked on the main road in front of the school gates. They decided to take the initiative after parents ignored appeals to stop from the headteacher, the council, road safety officers and police.

They noted down how long the offending vehicles remained there and counted the number of empty parking spaces in two nearby car parks.

The children will put their findings in a newsletter which will be taken home to highlight the dangers to parents.

And to reinforce the point, the graphs, data and photographs they produce will also be used in a major display on parent's evening.

"We really have tried everything to discourage parents from parking outside the school but it's a problem which just won't go away," said Gateshead Council's road safety officer Maureen Laverick.

"Some parents have been receptive but there seems to be a hardcore of parents who resist all our calls to park in a way which won't cause a danger to their own children."

The schools are accessed from Chowdene Bank, a steep, twisty road which links the A167 Durham Road with the Team Valley. The road is very busy and frequently congested with traffic.

Helen Gladstone, head teacher at Oakfield Junior, which has 237 seven to 11-year-old pupils, said: "The problem of parking and congestion has been going on outside the school for a long time.

"There was a little girl knocked down outside the school before Christmas. I don't know if it was definitely down to cars parked there but the risk is there."